Finally - Stencil Storage That Works For Me & A Hero Hop

I am hopping along with my friends at Hero Arts today, and have lots of fun things to show you that I got to see at CHA from the new Hero catalog.

CHA feels like that moment on your first birthday when you're allowed to plunge your entire head into an overly frosted birthday cake. It's amazing and you pass out for three weeks after the high wears off.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to pass out for three weeks, but it took me a few weeks to get back into the stamping groove after all that excitement. But now I'm ready to play with all the new goodies, and I have storage tips AND a watercolor video for you - so I hope you're caffeinated.

One of the things I looked for at CHA was stencil storage, and I came up empty handed. As a committed Gelli printer, I have a drawer FULL of stencils - there are not enough stencils in the world. And they drive me nuts, because they are a million different sizes and shapes, and many are so fine that they get hopelessly tangled up together, to the point where they even rip if you can't extricate the delicate ones. Drives me nuts. So I FINALLY found a storage system that works for me. I bought these folders, which are open on two sides, and translucent, so I can see the stencil. They're also very thin though, so my many stencils don't take up much room, and are easy to grab and pack for a retreat or stamping with friends.

They are a very sturdy poly, and are great stored flat or in a hanging file. I labeled them with company name and stencil name - but the stencil name is just for blogging - the reason I love these folders is that the stencil design is easy to see. And no stress from tangled stencils.

So speaking of stencils, here's one of the new Hero stencils - Delicate Petals, combined with this HILARIOUS stamp set - Hello Gorgeous.

I sponged from the center outwards with Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade and Tempting Turquoise inks. Then I stamped the image and sentiment in Versafine, using my Mini MISTI.

I posted a peek of the next one on Instagram because the stamp set Hipster Animals was cracking me up - this was the first one that made me squeal at their booth, and they had some fun life sized props from this set at the booth for photo ops.

Bwahah - doesn't that crack you up??

I went for pure, clean black & white just because that's how the sort of retro graphics speak to me.

And now, for the COMPLETE opposite of that, here's the watercolor. As soon as I saw these fish at the booth I was dying for a paintbrush.

I did abstract fish in the background, and then stamped a layered fish for the foreground. I just love everything about these little guys. This is a set called Color Layering Goldfish.

Here's a quick video of the process, which I did on 100% cotton Artistico watercolor paper by Fabriano, with QOR Watercolors (Pyrrole Red Light, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Pthalo Blue, Nickel Azo Yellow, Hansa Yellow Medium, and Quinacridone Gold).




I really had fun with all these, and I want to tell you also that the people at Hero (and yes, I'm biased about Libby because she is a sweet, dear friend that I miss very much), are SUCH great human beings, that it was so wonderful to spend time in their booth, and chat with them. It's a big deal to me to personally know that there are nice people behind the brands I respect.

So here's the rest of the hop today - such great talent here! Hop along, and comment at each stop for the chance to win four $25 shopping sprees, drawn from comments left across all blogs in the hop. Comment by 11:59pm PT on Valentine's Day.

Hero Arts
Lia Griffith
Kelly Purkey
Jennifer McGuire
Yana Smakula
Lucy Abrams
Kristina Werner
Kathy Racoosin
Mariana Grigsby
Debby Hughes
Nichol Magouirk
Joan Bardee
Lydia Fiedler << You are here :)
Sandy Allnock
Julie Ebersole
Amy Tsuruta
Kelly Rasmussen
Suzanne Dahlberg
Wanda Guess
Clare Prezzia
Tami Hartley
Libby Hickson


Loveyameanitbye.